Magicat

Welcome to Cruise Critic.  I cannot offer any advice on this.  Good luck.

9 hours ago, njsmom said:

I get that. My ex-husband died young, leaving our son without a dad. I believe in living life to its fullest, and not saving money for my kids to inherit. But also being sure I have enough for a nice retirement, and retiring young enough so that I can enjoy it. 

It's definitely about setting priorities and what matters. I told our financial advisor that I'm happy as long as I have a nice house, a newer model car, a long weekend trip to Napa every year and a longer vacation each year, too, and the ability to go to Europe every couple of years. He laughed. It's the simple things, amiright? 😂

Luxury. We used to hafta get 'out the lake, 3 am, clean the lake, eat a handful 'o hot gravel, work 20 hours a day at mill, for a penny a month, and dad would beat us about the head and neck with a broken bottle, if we were lucky.

20 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

Every single one of my clients at work could easily afford this. It blows my mind the amount of money some people have. Most of my clients have $1billion or more, and got it from being owners of huge mega corporations, inventors of popular products, or investors in major real estate and tech companies.

 

3 of my current clients are single men with no wives and no children, and they're happy as can be 😂. One of them owns a mansion and a yacht on the coast of Italy (as a 3rd home) that he spends several months on, but has never been on a cruise ship. But his "regular" house is just 20 minutes down the road from mine, it's a tiny 1500sqft ranch house that only cost him $1.5mil, and you'd never know a billionaire lived there. 
 

It's crazy to me how many people have that kind of money. 

Reminds me of Elmer Fudd, "I am Elmer Fudd.  Millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht."  😂

No issues roaming with Bell.  However, I have a 4 year old phone (Blackberry Key2) and I have issues making calls.  I get a message when I turn my phone on in the US when I land telling me that the cell network has been upgraded and some old phones using LTE network connections may not work.  Mine does not work.  I still receive data and SMS but no calls.  A little annoying especially if you planned on contacting someone.  Experienced this in Houston, Miami, Chicago and Cedar Rapids so far in the past year.  Looking to upgrade in May.  Bye Bye Blackberry.

15 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

It’s happened with the Toronto Maple Leafs who have season ticket holders. These tickets are hard to come by and a jilted spouse might want to take away any pleasure of their ex, even if they are just going to turn them in. 

Perhaps the jilted spouse is trying to save their ex from further anguish.  😆

Our cruise is next week on the Radiance and the menu is still not on the app.  I would like to see it before I book any specialty restaurant as I might be interested in what they are serving that evening in the MDR.  I suppose I will have to wait until I get onboard, sigh.

18 minutes ago, LoungerOnBalcony55 said:

There is no "different" complimentary restaurant. The fact MDR is a "3-course" restaurant is irrelevant. I'm not asking for some kind of customized serving order...just bringing out more than one appetizer or entre at a time if a passenger wants to eat them both at once...a perfectly reasonable request that was not problematic at all until very recently. 

See the link below to a comment I made on another thread about dining.  Not sure how much quicker you will eat your meal if you get both plates at the same time.  If it takes 10 minutes to eat a steak and 10 minutes to eat a lobster, you are only saving the extra exchange time the waiter takes to supply the new plate.  However in my experiences, there is simply no room on the table to add additional plates. 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2923823-anyone-enjoying-the-new-menu-selections/?do=findComment&comment=65098972

So I am a little confused about the serving of one main at a time.  I am sure the last 6 or so cruise we've been on since the restart, multiple servings were served one at a time.  There is so much clutter (glasses, bread baskets, bread plates, wine, salt and pepper shakers) that there simply was no room to put another plate.  The waiters always watched until you finished you entree or main and replaced it with the other one you had ordered.

I'm a carnivore but my wife does make a mean couscous salad that pairs well with ribs. 

On 3/20/2023 at 6:14 AM, Habs_CatD said:

My daughter and I are vegetarian, just off Oasis of the seas. I have good news and bad news for you. I’ll post a full review later, but for now:

 

MDR has 1 vegan appetizer, entrée and dessert every night. On 2 nights there was an additional Indian main that could be made vegan. Some were excellent (Greek moussaka), some were iffy (couscous stuffed red pepper - was just a large amount of couscous). There was no source of protein in any of them. So yes, bring protein bars!

 

Other venues such as the Windjammer had several dishes that might have been vegetarian or vegan, but it was not always clear as nothing was labelled. We did ask, but the servers didn’t know. Some would go to the kitchen to ask for us, some didn’t offer. We discovered that you could ask for a veggie burger at the burger station, and they would cook it specifically for us. We relied on this a lot. Not sure how much protein there is in it, but it was good and filling.

 

We tried Playmakers for their veggie burger, but the service was appalling - no fault to our server - she was very busy, but we waited a long time to be acknowledged, then served, and never got our drinks. Johnny Rockets also has a veggie burger.

 

we had the best luck with the Solarium bistro - felafel, hummus and other dips, as well as veggie stir fry and other veggies. Ample bread available.

 

Overall it was lacking in choice and especially lacking in alternative proteins. Quality was OK. Service was in MDR was slow.

 

Do bring protein bars.

Perhaps the next time some parent starts a thread asking how they can get their angelic children into a room by themselves, collectively, we should deter them.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/mexican-president-says-lack-of-hugs-caused-u-s-fentanyl-crisis-1.6317955

Well if hugs could solve the fentanyl problem, perhaps we can solve the unruly teenager problems on cruise ships too.

You might want to post your question on the Port of Call threads.

23 hours ago, allyfree said:

Bollocks - it's greed and it's discrimination!

 

Blame your neighbours to the south.  EU people are free to travel and work at other EU countries.  So Spanish workers can freely travel within the EU and work without a visa.  Since 2020 with Brexit when the UK left the EU, workers now need a visa to work in EU countries hence increasing the cost.  

From a previous lobster picture, it seems like the size of lobster is inconsistent.  This one from our friends on the Radiance last month looked very small.  I don't think I would be very happy if they charged me $16 for another one of these scampi tails.

1 hour ago, poocher said:

And it could also be hyperbole!  I’ve never had a filthy cabin.

We have not experienced a dirty cabin, but friends of ours did.  Seems like the sheets were not changed on change over day.  The sheets were stained with sweat (their description). I will see if I can find the pictures they sent. 

Even before Covid when Noro was the fashionable pathogen, we wiped our room down with Lysol wipes.  A wipe in each hand and go through the cabin touching surfaces and handles like we would naturally.  Did this before we unpacked our carryons.  

I remember my first cruise back in 2002.  The windjammer plates were ginormous.  About my second or third cruise they switched to the round plates they have today.  Was this the start of their portion control forcing patrons to actually get up and get seconds?  Just an observation, please continue the discussion.

This is probably an isolated incident, but I had a friend who was a cop at Pearson and they caught a valet taking an expensive car for a joy ride down Carlingview and Renforth at a high rate of speed.  This was a number of years ago.  😂

3 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

What ease? 
With park and fly , I drive to the office , they take me to the terminal , coming home , I find pick up area they drive me to the car 

with Value park I have to drag our bags to train , get on the train, than get to the terminal and than coming find the train , drag  bags to car 

and pay $100 more to do it 

People from South western Ontario have a wrap sense of ease 🤣

We like to think we have a warped sense of ease, but that's just me. Also I'm a little dyslexic so you spelt it right for me 😆  I have not used the Valet service but as @LHT28 mentioned there are more shuttles there than the standard parking lot.  Try it and let us know how you made out.

6 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Person Value Park Garage, is expensive 

Above my pay grade

 

also you need take reviews with a grain of salt

Or else I would never take a trip anywhere 🤣

 

How much will you be paying at ParkN Fly for the same time period?

I like the parking garage near the Alt.  We've used it many times.

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

They  seem to have 1 shuttle  for the economy lots   & several for the Valet  lot

We counted 10  one time while freezing our  *** off   now we just park near the Alt

I like to keep the car keys with us  so no valet parking for us

Check to see if any local hotels offer a park and fly package.  Also with Park'N Fly make sure you allow yourself lots of time to get to the airport as the shuttle seems to be very slow.  We waited 45 mins for a shuttle as well as others that have used their service.

On 4 Alaska cruises, one in June and 3 in Aug/Sep time frame, we found the ship to be abnormally warm.  Frequently had to go outside to cool down, which on a Radiance class ship it is easy to do.

1 hour ago, Tiggerontheseas said:

 

I am apparently on the wrong side of the country for the peameal bacon (from BC) but would love to try it.   You all have gotten me very interested. 🙂

I usually slow roast it on the bbq then slice it up for sandwiches or just on it's own with a salad.  A nice honey mustard sauce and that is heaven on a plate.  

1 hour ago, Tiggerontheseas said:

 

I love back bacon (what you probably call Canadian Bacon), but this pealmeal stuff with the cornbread coating sounds a little odd.  If I'm ever in southern Ontario I'll give it a try.

 

Although my favourite is just the good old fashioned regular strips of bacon that you are used to.  

 

 

Back bacon is smoked and peameal is the loin just rolled in cornmeal.  They sometimes have English bacon which is a lean cut of bacon and very good.